Yesterday--I decided to take down one of my Swedish Ivy HB to prune it back
for new cuttings to start a new HB.
There in the middle of the top of it was an unfinished nest made up of a lot of
pine needles ( I had them everywhere as mulch last winter).
There was no soft padding yet--no feathers--nothing. Just a swirl of needles in a nest shape.
I was thinking a wren or a Robin or some other bird had started to make a nest...
I had NEVER seen any bird around this HB. It hangs right on the corner of my Patio roof edge.
Not too many birds around...maybe b/c I no longer have feeders up.?
I do see Purple Grackles in my bird baths quite often. Maybe they have a nest close by?
Of course--Doves are always around...
Empty nests: Where have all the birdies gone?
When I was relaxing under the fans on the front porch after a long day of yardening last evening, I was totally surprised that there was a bird nest on top of the motor of one of the fans. I didn't see any birds going in and out of it though, and in my relaxing frame of mind, I did not feel like going to get a step ladder to take a peek. Maybe tonight.
Thanks for the confirmation about the snake, greenthumb.
I used to play with garden (or is it garter?) snakes when I was young and then I "graduated" to tarantulas. We would catch them, keep them in jar for a little while then release them.
This was the first snake I've seen in years.
Muddy, you need to get out more. ;-)
I'll be tramping around the forest this weekend and will keep my eyes open! I always look down anyway so I can avoid poison ivy.
When we walked to my plot in the woods during the swap, we did see a box turtle.
Baby robins have hatched! I haven't seen their little faces yet, but mama robin is "upchucking" breakfast down into the nest LOL. Bet she's happy with all the worms around after the rain!
Yay, what fun! You'll probably get to see them fledge too because the nest is so close to your house; lucky you.
Yep, we saw the first 3 leave, 1 at a time with several days between... that was new to me, as I'm used to seeing birds fledge together. Jim reached up with his phone and got a couple of cute photos, so when I figure out how to get them off the "cloud," I'll show them to you. 3 babies again, with bright yellow beaks!
I recall reading that robins kick their young out of the nest as soon as they're ready; the sooner they scatter, the better their chances of not being eaten.
I took advantage of an apparent gap between broods to cut back the Azaleas and Rhododendron in my front yard. I saw a few empty nests, but no birds were scolding me so I think my timing was good!
I stopped as soon as the birds finished their goodnight songs and then went to drop some peanuts in the feeder for the flying squirrel. It was already there so I got to see it.
I saw my first swallowtail caterpillar this morning! YAY!
I got a little too lazy in harvesting fennel seeds last year which resulted in quite a bit of seedlings this year. Some of you got them in your raspberry pots at the swap! Butterflies must have found the masses of fennel appealing, because I *finally* have a caterpillar!
I still don't have the room for all of this fennel, though. Would anyone else be interested in bronze fennel seedlings? I'll pot them up and bring them to Yehudith's garden party. Please pm me if you're interested.
Swallowtail caterpillar and dragonfly.
That caterpillar is quite a voracious eater!
Nice looking fat cat! Good thing you have extra seedlings. 4 or 5 fennel starts came with my raspberries! Thanks.
It looks as if the dragonfly is enjoying the water on those leaves (or is it just trying to dry off?).
I haven't seen a Swallowtail butterfly yet, much less a caterpillar. I've got enough host plants for any that appear, but thanks for the fennel offer anyway.
I'd like some fennel, thanks!
I'm surprise to see such a big caterpillar. Maybe there was an egg from the fall, if that's possible
The camera might have gotten a better look at the carolina wren eggs than i did... upon inspection of the photo, I'm wondering if that really was a cowbird egg toward the front.
At least one hatched yesterday... if he's a cowbird, I guess he'll be bigger than the others when they hatch. I'm thinking I should "interfere" if he is... I don't mind cowbirds, but it seems really unfair to ask a pair or little wrens to raise one!
That bigger egg sure looks different t me...
Sally, that first warm spell we had saw some overwinter eclosures of swallowtails when there was litlle to do but lay eggs. I suspect this is a new hatch from this year making up for lost munching time.
SSG if you hand raise this one, you may get enough cats to eat up all your extra fennel!
Muddy, I'm not surprised that you haven't seen any cats in your yard....you have so many bird frequenters that I'm sure any visiting butterflies/caterpillars are quickly spotted and gorged into open hatchling mouths!
Are you and Sally raising those meal worm substitutes this year?
That egg looks much different to me too.
I have not confirmed soldier flies yet. Maybe when warm Temps come back.
Well, I couldn't stand the suspense and checked the nest more closely to see if it was just 1 hatched chick with the other 4 eggs still under it (I think cowbirds often hatch a little sooner than others, increasing their chance of getting the lion's share of parental attention). Sadly, there were NO other eggs in the nest, probably the doing of that chick. I think that confirms it... my carolina wrens have been stuck with a changeling, at the total expense of their other offspring.
If the cowbird chick were to "disappear," I'm thinking the wrens would have plenty of time to lay another clutch in that nest, assuming they are not too alarmed by the event. Legally, I'm "supposed to" let nature take its course (cowbirds are protected under the Migratory Bird act), but these are "my" wrens...
I told Joyanna the situation just now. Her input: "At least we'd get to see what a cowbird chick looks like!" *sigh* I guess I won't be helping it disappear.
I just checked on the caterpillar. It's still chomping away! This is just too much fun. :D
I remember seeing a swallowtail earlier this year so it's possible the eggs were laid not too long ago.
Jill, what an interesting learning experience for Joyanna.
Sally, I'll bring you some fennel!
Jill, a quick visit to Google Images verifies that the anomalous egg in your wren's nest was indeed a cowbird egg.
I am wondering if the MAMA Cowbird got rid of all the Wren eggs---NOT the Chick!
What does a new-hatched Chick know to do??? besides being fed?
I guess this is a lesson on early observance of what eggs are in a nest.
Assuming one can see the nests and what is in it....
Shame on all the Cowbirds..... :o/
I read somethings about cow birds. They are called cow birds because they follow the herds taking full advantage of insect life stirred up by grazing cattle or feasting in the droppings. Author suggested that cow birds adapted to their nomadic lifestyle by laying eggs in other bird's nests because following the herds meant oftimes they would not be there to care for the hatchling as the herds would by then be miles away.
Do wrens use bird houses?
From http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/brown-headed_cowbird/lifehistory
"Cowbird eggs hatch faster than other species eggs, giving cowbird nestlings a head start in getting food from the parents. Young cowbirds also develop at a faster pace than their nest mates, and they sometimes toss out eggs and young nestlings or smother them in the bottom of the nest."
and "When young cowbirds hatch, they may roll the other eggs out of the nest."
Nice : (
Are the wrens feeding the little monster?
I think that nomadic thing is a fallacy... parasitic egg-layers were around before the nomadic cows, apparently. It's just a strategy that works -- put more energy into laying lots of eggs rather than just a few, but then no energy is devoted to rearing of young.
Mama cowbirds sometimes destroy an egg in a nest in order to replace it with one of their own (in case the other parents can count, presumably), but before we left on Friday there were still 5 eggs in the nest as in the first photo.
It's not what the chick "knows," it's more that if there's an inherited behavior for stomping around the nest and crushing the other eggs, chicks with that behavior will have a better chance of surviving and of being big strong fledgelings. Like the nest parasite behavior, it works to the chick's advantage.
Since the cowbird chick isn't related to the other chicks, their survival doesn't help him one bit, in an evolutionary sense -- at least that's the theory with regard to siblings as put forth by Richard Dawkins (_The Selfish Gene_) and other who view the genome rather than the individual as the basis for natural selection. OK, my "geek alert-ometer" just blew a gasket, so I'd better stop.
Legally, one should not remove cowbird eggs, either... although people do it all the time when they show up in bluebird or warbler nests. English sparrows or European starlings aren't protected like that, since they are invasive species. I guess it's not like we're overrun with cowbirds in our yard, but I feel so bad for "my" wrens!
My guess is that the cowbird chick tossed the eggs out of the nest and the rain washed away the evidence.
coleup, all I've done so far is put piles of coffee grounds on top of my compost heap rather than mix them in, because Sally said black soldier flies like coffee grounds.
My youngest daughter gave me a few BSF larva (she bought them for one of her many critters) and I put those on the heap. I don't know what's in the heap, but the birds are interested in it.
"My guess is that the cowbird chick tossed the eggs out of the nest and the rain washed away the evidence." agree
What came first, nomadic herds or parasitic egg laying birds? I think that's up for debate.
My compost still has plenty of fruit flies/fungus gnats- yay for hummingbirds etc-- when the soldier flies took over last year, the gnats went away. I think I see yellow soldier flies but none will perch for me to get a good look.
Since I cannot turn my compost over (it's in the disintegrating, black, plastic thing)
I have NO idea what lurks beneath all the top.
I do see that it is settling lower and lower no matter how much stuff I throw in there.
That's a good sign!
I still have a half bucket full of very old coffee grinds (from my 7-11 saving days).
I should dump most of it in there...as well as some hand-fulls of blood meal. $$$
I think this is the last year for my SEM (Stupid Earth machine for you newbies).
It is now cracked in many places....even has gaping holes...It IS many years old...
G.
The SEM looks tidier than an open compost heap... but it's such a pain; I can't believe you've kept it this long! Buying blood meal to add to compost seems to defeat the point of HAVING a compost pile.. If you're thinking of cracking it apart and getting rid of it, STOP putting more stuff into it... you'll only have more of a MESS to deal with.
I haven't looked to see if I have black soldier flies on my compost heap, but it's a good reminder to put some coffee grounds out there instead of just scattering them around. thanks!
Jill--It is the only place I have to put my kitchen and yard scraps---
Will have to look around for a new one....
Still wishing I could build a nice 4x4 real compost container there...
And--NO! it is not simple to do--and I cannot do it.
Also--not sure if it will look good in a development and my small back yard.
G.
My "compost bin" is 4 metal t-stakes with chicken wire around 3 sides. You could probably use a plastic storage tub, if you drilled some holes in the sides for air circulation.
Gita, I suggest (strongly) you just sprinkle the grounds around through the garden and lawn, they will have only a very weak nutrient level so consider them a touch of topsoil. You won't really benefit your compost. You'll mildly benefit the garden but no risk of 'overfertilizing'. They'll disappear. And you'll get ONE thing off your mind.
Blood meal is better sprinkled around too, don't they say rabbits fear the smell of blood?
Have fun filing SEM with kitchen waste. Throw it in, forget it, as you have done.
Oh yeah birds. I hear chickies in a gourd, some sort of wren, couldn't spot Mom or Dad closely to know which..
Jill---and I bet your compost bin is somewhere in the back among a lot of
shrubs and trees....eg your tree line... In other words--out of sight.
Mine is in plain view of any passers by and all my neighbors.
So--I'd rather keep it presentable--hence a container.
I like to keep all things clean, orderly and organized and not offensive to anyone,
most of all to ME!
Thanks for the suggestions--but I will pass. Not my way...G.
I couldn't find the caterpillar today. I know cats go to another spot to pupate, so where should I look?
ssg, I really don't know, but if I were a caterpillar I would look for a dense shrub.
Oh, the clethra is right next to it. I'll look for it tomorrow!
Swallowtails like upright, vertical, sturdy stems.stalks, branches smaller in diameter than a pencil.
Mine liked to go 6 - 12 inches up. They will also do fences and siding and undersides of patio furniture. Look 2 to 10 feet away. Seriously though they can be anywhere!
Thanks, coleup; I knew you would know!
The bluebirds have another nest in the birdhouse they used for their first brood and there are 4 eggs! Of course, I'm not sure it's the same pair of birds, but I think it is.
I didn't see any oddball eggs.
Oddball??
You talkin' to ME?!
